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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Shopping and exploring in Seville

We're not big on shopping.

While I don't mind shopping online, and we don't mind shopping for groceries, going shopping for anything else is not our idea of fun. But, we need a new smart phone, and to have to buy one while in Spain is a bit of a pain.

So in between exploring, if we came across a store that sold cell phones, Tony and I went inside.

We'll be going inside the main cathedral this morning. We bought a combination ticket that allows entry to the cathedral and another lessor known church. This means we won't have to wait in line at the cathedral.

The lessor known Iglesia del Salvador.

Look up...the ceiling was painted in 1775.

Some kind of model, made entirely of silver.

Fancy.

Seville, Spain.

Side entry door to the cathedral.

Not everything in Seville is old!

And there are a few run down buildings.

Tony and I went phone shopping for an hour while the girls continued wandering. We went into the big El Corte Ingles department store, where they had the new Samsung A3 in stock. It's a brand new model, only released about three weeks ago, and only available in Europe. I can buy it outright, and unlocked for €329 tax included. ($470 CAD, $350 USD).

And, the store has a special for out of country tourists wherby we get a card worth 10% of the value of the purchase to spend on something else in the store. So maybe I can get a protective case or something for it.

And, we can get the VAT tax refunded when we leave the country. That should be about €40.

So, we're off to buy that this morning, as well as getting a new SIM card. So we'll start fresh and keep our fingers crossed!

I'm glad that in the downtown section of Seville it is almost all old. We like seeing the new architecture too but not in the historical section so much. We really do love just wandering around and finding all these neat things unexpectedly though.

Paul and Marsha, if you thought the church in this post was something wait until you see the blog post Kevin does for our visit to the cathedral in today's post. The architecture boggles our minds too!

This structure, Metropol Parasol has several functions and also claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. It has an "antiquarium" in the below ground that displays Roman and Moorish ruins that they found while construction of this structure started. It is also used for events and on the upper level there is an outdoor "roof" walkway so that you can see the sights of the city as well as a restaurant. Here is more info on it en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropol_Parasol

We feel the same way about churches, they are all starting to look the same! We are pretty selective as to which ones we will visit now, especially if you have to pay to see the inside. Wait until you see today's post on the Cathedral of Seville, it huge and amazing on the inside.

Kevin, this may be just a fairy tale, but when you get back to Canada, you might take your old iPhone to the Genius Bar in the Apple Store to determine if it is easily and cheaply repaired; if so, then you can resell it on the market which will lower your net payout for the new phone. I know shopping for a new phone under these circumstances is a pain, but you'll have fun playing with it when you have some free time.

Kevin is not interested in getting any kind of tablet/pad. He just wants a small smart phone that we can use when we are out and about. He uses it mostly for mapping system, offline and for translation. It is also nice for getting emails and of course communication within the country we are visiting should we need it. Thanks for the suggestion though.

My Tab is a phone too, so I hope the euro model works on the American networks you like to use. Also the wonderful world of android has a nasty parameter called Locale. It is factory set for the point of sale and primarily sets currency, metric/imperial, language. It can also be used by app developers to restrict their distribution. If you like using Gasbuddy and Ultimate Campgrounds and want to load them on the phone they may not be available off the play store. I can help if you want, been there !

Trust us, this is not a "large" city. The city itself is spread out but we never had any traffic problems and we were able to drive right into to the downtown area of the city with the motorhome and never felt nervous about it, unlike many cities in the USA. The population is less than 700,000 in the city itself.

The historical center is very walkable and full of wonderful sights, we loved our time there and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. So in answer to your question, "Is it doable?" Yes, it is very doable!

Okay, this is a long story... you better make yourself comfortable! Some of our long time readers might remember that I (Kevin) need to ge...

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